I’ve got a fair number of interesting tee-shirts. When God stopped by today I was wearing one that says, “I don’t think people are born homophobic. I think it’s a choice. I think they could change if they want.”

God asked me if I really believed that.

Now, of course one of the reasons for wearing the shirt is that it’s an entertaining reversal of the absurd notion that so many anti-gay zealots put forth that homosexuality is a choice. That alone would probably make the shirt worth wearing, so I gave it some careful thought. I mean after all, since the claim that homosexuality is a choice is generally false, if the shirt’s claim were true that would push it full into the realm of delicious irony, and good irony is actually kind of hard to find.

But I ultimately decided that the shirt isn’t true. I don’t think people choose to be homophobic. I think they’re programmed into it.

So, yeah, they could change if they want to, but for some people it’d be even harder than quitting smoking. But hopefully, as more of us come out of the closet, as more queer role models show up in the media, a few more homophobes will realize that they can change, and a few more will find that they want to change.

[p.s.: If you’d like to have more interesting tee-shirts in your wardrobe, don’t forget to check out the Unscriptured shirts at Zazzle.com, there’s a link in the navigation bar.]